The Portal of Oblivion
by Zytharros
Summary: Some say this legend began with two miscreant youths investigating a door that nobody had opened in 4,000 years. Other versions recall an invading army attacking the door, believing it to be a threshold of imperial treasure. Let me recount the real tale.
1. Introduction

Some say this legend began with two miscreant youths investigating a door that nobody had opened in 4,000 years. Other versions recall an invading army attacking the door, believing it to be a threshold of imperial treasure.

But I know the truth.

Oh, but you do not know me?

You know who I am, though you may not recognize me at first. You see, I was the item that the legendary hero used to defeat the evil Agahnim, and then slay the evil Ganon. I'm… quite the legend, you might say.

Need another hint?

I used to glimmer in the sunlight from my pedestal, this holy rock upon which I sit, waiting for the next legendary link of time to take me in his hand and smite the latest evil threatening this land I protect – the land of Hyrule.

Yeah, you know who I am – the Master Sword, the Blade of Evil's Bane.

Let me recount the tale to you, who now read these ancient words transcribed from Hylian to English by the most scholarly of translators and the greatest liturgical minds of your time…


	2. Prelude: Roots

( The Roots of the Fable ) PRELUDE 

About one hundred years after the death of evil, once all was peaceful and the heroes of that generation had passed on and once the hero's truth had faded into mere old folks' tales, chaos erupted again. The "death" of Agahnim had proven impermanent. He tore through the fabrics of time, space, spirituality, and logic and erupted into Hyrule via the very room the hero of old had slain him in. He ripped through the land searching for descendants of the legendary heroes… and the descendants of the villain who had enslaved him. He killed the descendants he found that he deemed useless. Others, he turned into the horde of undead, redead, ex-dead, and minus-dead that would ensnare the remaining residents of Hyrule.

At this time, the first group of Sages appeared – the Originals, as they were known back then. They told everyone who didn't want to be under Agahnim's extremely oppressive regime to flee to the hills. Thus began the exodus. A million people fled to the four corners of the world, seeking refuge amongst a nation of mountain people to the north, a people of the plains to the southwest, the sea people to the south and southeast, the green-haired forest children in miscellaneous forests circumferencing the south and east portions of the continent, and a desert tribe to the northwest. They fled in such vast numbers that many countries shut their doors. The sea-dwellers, by name the Zoras, shut their doors first, followed quickly and promptly by their natural forest friends, who had accepted mainly children of Hyrule into their tribe. These children, and the forest-children that accepted them, would later become collectively known as the Kokiri, and be left alone to their own devices, but at this time they weren't known as anything but forest kids and were still a new race.

Following the Zora and Kokiri closing-of-borders, the desert tribe known at this time as the Sheikah would follow. They quickly found their lands overwhelmed… and killed all the people inside, thus earning their present name "Gerudo", meaning "murderer of innocents" in the language of the time.

The mountain people, known as the Gorons, enslaved the Hylians and made them work for little to no pay, or even food. Within just ten years, the flimsy bodies of the Hylians succumbed to the pressure – the last one in the territory fell to overwhelming work demands and impossible lifting pressures imposed upon him by the Gorons.

But the plains people, the ones with the most land, were all too happy to let the new people move into their lands. They sectioned off new land for the Hylians and split their country in half with them, as it was unused anyway. They delighted the Hylians so much that they stayed together. Progressively, the name "Hylian" referred to anyone of the plains from then on, and the old name "Thrycian" was eliminated, though the country still declared itself as Thrycia.

Once most of the people of Hyrule had escaped into the neighbouring countries, the Originals, one from each tribe represented in the land, began sealing the land of Hyrule from outsiders, hoping to keep the terror within. They successfully contained him, but at the cost of thousands of lives that never made it out. They sealed it with a door, at the time called the "Door to Hyrule".

Again, however, with the flow of time comes change, and the door's name was altered to how it was known at the time this legend started…

It was now called "The Portal of Oblivion".

Four thousand years later, a child would break the seal and be forced to rescue the entire world from a villain that would not only claim the world, but destroy the two relics most precious to Hyrule – and the world.

Let the portal be opened!


	3. Torrent

( Torrent ) CHAPTER ONE

"Give it back!"

"Go away!"

"Don't steal!"

The short boy of fifteen fled the angry mob. He was of poor origins and needed to steal to live. He had snagged a single apple from the market and was now fleeing from a raging tide of people.

"Thief! Thief!" one cried out.

"I'm gonna bust that kid up!" yelled another.

A third was screaming profanities while brandishing a pitchfork.

The young boy didn't know what was so wrong about his actions. He needed to provide for his family. He needed to… he HAD to…

He looked ahead and noticed the path ahead was thick with people. He darted in and out of their legs, tripping some of them and taking their fruit as well. Bananas, pears, peaches… anything he could grab before it hit the ground. He quickly dove into a nearby alleyway, climbing into a large clay pot to hide. The blue tarpaulin he held close to his chest held the precious food within.

The crowd passed by as he caught his breath in the pot. He climbed out of the pot and began to walk home, holding about twenty articles of fruit in his arms. He snacked on the apple he had originally stolen on the way.

A dark figure stood amongst the rooftops of the town. He laughed at the mob that passed by.

"That kid doesn't know how to steal properly," the man chuckled. "Why, I could steal all those things twice and still have enough time to grab a candy bar from the store… or a child. Yes, better… a young child's candy bar…"

He chuckled again and dove into a nearby alley. He looked out at the crowd and began to walk around the various people, as if he was crossing the street. He swiped two wallets, and thirty rupees before disappearing into the sky without so much as a whisper.

He leapt up into the rooftops and disappeared into the sunset as chaos ensued in the town once again.

"OW!!!"

A girl in a pink dress was slapped across the face by her father.

"You dare to come into the King's chambers without his knowing!?"

She was slapped again. A painful howl erupted from her lungs.

"I'm sorry, Dad! I'm sorry! I'll-"

CRASH!!!

The girl was thrown headfirst into her mirror. The mirror shattered.

"I hope you've learned your lesson, you incompetent whiner…"

The beautiful girl began to cry. Her blonde hair was frazzled and matted with blood. Her dress was stained with blood as well.

She was too weak to move, so all she did was cry.

He cursed twice, then continued. "Wimp…" the king muttered. "Big girls don't cry." He called her a few other nasty names, then stormed out.

Her door slammed shut. She sat up and weakly moved over to the window, peeling shards of glass from her hair and head. She cried to herself. She had no friends. She was kept locked up in the tallest tower of the castle like a trophy.

_I have to get out of here…_ she thought. _For my own sake…_

She thought back to a few years ago, when her father was a warm, loving person. She recalled his gentle caresses, his soothing voice, and his amazing love, that which seemed to overflow from who knows where.

_Then… he… came._

She recalled the moment when everything changed.

_He came wearing a dark cloak and many black veils, saying he had come from beyond the Portal… but that's impossible. The Portal's been closed for years…_

She recalled his cold eyes casting shivers down her spine and tying her stomach into such a tight knot that she swore it had sucked in on itself. She knew that night the world had changed.

But it wasn't the same kind of evil that had assaulted Hyrule before…

Thunder sounded and rain began to fall.

She wiped her cheek, threw off her royal robes, and dressed in a black ninja outfit with a single pink scarf. She pulled out a couple of knives from her drawer. She proceeded to slash her hair up into a short, chin-length style. She tucked it in the ninja hood, folded up the mask, and began to tie her bedspread up into sheets. She hoped she would be able to escape this time… she had to find out what this evil was.

The young boy arrived in his home and jovially declared his winnings.

"I got food!" he proclaimed.

No response.

He looked around and sighed disappointedly. He knew there was nobody home – there never was – but he always hoped his parents would be around… He knew they would rather do something else, other than raise their child.

He sat at the table and began to eat half-heartedly. He had gathered enough food to feed a whole family, he thought, but he realized once he was through eating that he had barely gathered enough food to satiate his fourteen-year-old hunger.

"Crap," he mused. "I go to bed hungry again, I guess…"

He sat back, looking at the pile of trash he had just created. He sorted it into groups – a pair of pears, a small pile of orange peels, crumb remnants of half a sample loaf of bread, crumbs of cheese, and an empty cup of water he had taken from the fountain in the middle of town.

"It'd be nice if I had parents…" he sighed as he brought himself back to reality.

He was an orphan, born in the north portions of Thrycia. His parents migrated south and were focussed almost exclusively on their family. He was with them on a camping trip back to the lake they used to hang out at a lot before moving to the big city of Kantoripeth. About six years ago, while they were on the vacation and during a fishing escapade, he fell overboard off a rented boat. His dad leapt over to save him, effectively capsizing the boat and throwing his mother into the lake.

She couldn't swim, but by the time they realized the boat was flipped, she was already beyond saving…

Nonetheless, his dad tried anyway… and dove too far. The boy clung to the boat for dear life and cried as it drifted farther into the middle of the lake...

The next day, the boy found himself washed up on shore, the boat a few yards away about two feet above the water and hooked on some shoals.

He looked around. His home now consisted of nothing but a tarp, an alleyway, and some ratty clothes that he hadn't changed out of for six years… some too-small-for-him shorts, a white shirt, and a green cap. He had found the tarp – one of only four items he possessed – in someone's garbage the other day. He pulled the wrecked, but still useful tarp out and used that as his covering on rainy days, and as his bedding on sunny days. He also had a pendant, a piece of jewellery his mother gave him, which contained their last family picture. He held it in his fist and looked upward to the darkening, overcast sky. Thunder resounded.

_If the Triforce is real, I'm gonna see you two again,_ he vowed. _You won't be dead for long._

He looked down and rubbed the Triforce he had etched on its' back before he slipped it back into his shorts pocket. He kicked at the third of four items – the cup. It was his dad's last gift to him on that trip. He kept it spotless and used it to drink from wherever he could. It was etched with his dad's favourite phrases.

He focussed on one, and smiling, recited it. "Fluids are your best friend." He looked up to the sky again and shook his head.

"Link, you can't be depressed. You'll see them again," he mumbled to himself.

"What am I saying…?" Another dose of reality set in again, and he kicked the cup. "Who am I kidding… the Triforce is nothing but a legend… Mom and Dad are dead… my school buddies won't speak to a street bum…"

He groaned and punched the wall. "I've got nothing to live for…"

He stood up and decided to set off for the nearby forest. Hopefully his old friend Sprigana would give him a place to rest for a while. It was getting tiring sleeping in the same alley night after night. He pulled the tarp out of his fourth item, a backpack with wheels so he could drag it around. Wrapping the tarp around himself, he was mostly protected from the onslaught of rain that fell in endless torrents that night, reflecting his tumultuous feelings inside.

_Maybe I could earn some spending money and actually buy my food like a normal person…_ he contemplated as he set off into the rainy moonlight.

In a cave outside town, the large, dark-clad man laughed at his winnings.

"I have nearly 2,000 rupees here, plus some valuable credit cards… I'm a friggin' genius!" he gloated. "My uncle was right – thievery does pay, especially in a stupid country like Thrycia!"

He laughed and curled himself in his lush blanket, falling into a deep, secure sleep to the pitter-patter of rain about ten feet away outside the cave house.


	4. From Oblivion

( From Oblivion ) CHAPTER TWO 

(Link)

It was the dawn of the second day of travel. He had left that Hylian city for the forest country. He was in his second night of travel and had considered setting up camp for the night on the inner fringes of the nearest forest when something completely inconsistent with the dark night sky appeared in his vision. A single golden door appeared in the middle of the road, shining in a stark gold against the inky darkness. A stained, dirty hand emerged from under the blue tarp.

_So inviting…_ the young teen pondered.

He decided that a peek was all he needed. He edged closer until he stood at the door. He grasped its' thick, round handle and began to turn it.

Halfway through the motion, he jolted back.

_Something evil's beyond this door…_ he cautioned himself. _They say this door is the Portal of Oblivion, and behind it lies the decimated land of Hyrule – the world of oblivion._

He stepped back. "No, Link."

He jolted his eyes away from the door and ran into the forest, eyes closed.

_I saw nothing… I saw nothing… _he kept repeating to himself as the door vanished into the inky blackness and he into the ever-thickening foliage.

Once, he heard rustling, but it disappeared as quickly as it came.

(Zelda)

A pink ribbon scurried through the night over stone rooftops.

"Maybe if I can make it to her place…" Zelda mumbled. "Maybe she can offer me assistance."

She began to affix her mind to the face of her thin friend. The green-haired forest child was always welcoming and friendly. She was kind, with a soft face, a soft demeanour, and a soft smile. She always opened her home to anyone that needed it, regardless of the consequences.

She saw the edge of town approaching. Quickly and silently she skimmed rooftop after rooftop until she landed on the outer perimeter of town. She looked back only once before darting into the night just off the main road. She spent a night and a day there before continuing on.

At about daybreak a day later, she emerged from the sparse tree growths that lined the pathway and noted the large black dome in the middle of all. There was a shimmering gold door on the front. She stood, mesmerized by the door, but as the sun came up, the door slowly faded away. She ran to it, but as she ran, the door vanished.

"Was that the portal of oblivion?" she asked. "I thought it was just a legend!"

She touched the blackness where the door had been. It rippled like gelatine, but was as firm as stone.

"It must've been an illusion…" she sighed. "What do they keep in this big, black dome anyway?"

She heard footsteps and darted into the woods. She observed the boy glance at the re-appeared door, then watched how he interacted with it.

"No, Link." he cautioned himself.

She felt a lump in her throat. _Link… My forest friend mentioned him once._

She snuck a little bit ahead to get a closer look, but he darted into the bush. She leapt and rolled away, deeper into the forest. She quickly sat up and looked around.

The boy was gone.

"Drat," she muttered. "I better get to Spring's house before he does. I have more important business with her than this bum… cute as he is…"

She blushed, then quickly straightened her thoughts and mind and darted through the wood.

_Maybe I'll meet him there._

(Ganon)

The older man guffawed as he rode in a Maronica Secordio four-wheel-drive vehicle, akin to a Toyota 4Runner, to a house in the middle of the forest at noon on the first day of Link's journey. This house was a forest home of a young, gullible forest child he had caught wind of at a past thieves' meeting.

"She might not have much, but it's her I'm after. How much will someone pay for a forest child?" he smirked. "The Ganon Subversive Adoption Agency… That has a ring to it!"

Within an hour he had arrived. He walked through the village – an imposing, black-trench coat-clad figure with two purple, twin-bladed gun-blade pistols attached to his belt. A purple mist trailed him. The children scattered as the man marched to the far end of the village and kicked in the door.

"Where's Spring?" he shouted, levelling the room with a hail of bullets and sending the cowering children deeper into their hiding places.

No sooner had he said those words than clouds exploded from the walls and attacked him. He shot three shadow beasts, then turned and sliced two more in half. He turned just as one leapt, mouth open, at his face.

Suddenly, the creature let loose a loud, grotesque howl as a green-haired girl sliced through it with a sharp blade.

"They're attacking the village!" she shouted. "We need to rescue the kids!"

Ganon guffawed. "What, do you think I'm some kind of hero?"

He grabbed her around the neck and lifted her up. Amongst her screams and cries he tossed her into the back of his car, closed the door, and locked his pistols back in their holsters. When he tried to start his car, they were both thrown out of it!

"What in Nayru's name…?" Ganon shrieked, scrambling to get up.

He whipped out his guns and began firing, but nothing worked. He saw a young girl lying on the ground. She had thrown her arms over her head as she was being brutally assaulted by five shadow beings. Ganon noticed her sword a few feet away.

He fired into the fray and shouted, "Hey! Don't you DARE attack my slave like that!! Din will eat your souls for dinner!"

Quietly, the girl mumbled, "Slave?"

He ran over to her blade as the five evil beasts and the transformed car struck out at him. He kicked her sword over to her, diving in front of her body and firing. He hit three of the dark beasts, but couldn't dent the vehicle!

"Son of a Stalchild!" he cursed. "What's that giant mechanical demon's weakness?"

The young, green-haired girl slowly got up. She had sustained multiple wounds, including a broken left arm and cuts across her back and legs. She looked around at her village and grew furious.

"You won't take my village!!" she shrieked.

She went off, distracting the black shadows as Ganon faced off against his own car. He was dodging all the tire-punches and stomps, but he was almost out of bullets and hadn't landed even a damaging shot yet. He figured he had no choice but to take this mechanical beastie on… close-range.

He snapped his guns to their sword-hold, leaving what remained of the bullets in the holster. He leapt for the large behemoth and struck, ripping through steel and metal with his blades. He ploughed right through his car's intestines and spewed gas, oil, washer fluid, and many other types of lubricants all over the place as he ripped through.

He then realized what place of cars was the weakest.

He landed, then called to the girl. "Hey! Green-haired girl! Spring!"

She acknowledged that she was listening, despite the fact that she was busy fending off four shadow beasts and defending another child.

"Try to get everyone out of here! There's a big boom coming!"

She pulled back and waved the freed children to follow her. They had all grabbed sticks, rocks, dust, or other annoying but not particularly harmful objects to lend a hand. Now they were all leading the charge away from the village.

Suddenly, the girl got an idea.

"Go back!" she shouted.

So everyone turned back towards the village, fighting through any baddies that attacked them. The girl led the charge right around Ganon.

The man saw what she was doing, and mentally gave her at least some credit for being so crafty. He waited until all the kids were clear and the wave of monsters chasing them was in close enough range to get caught by the blast.

He shouted, "Dive!!!"

He shot and everyone dove.

The bullet hit pay liquid and ignited the oil, which in turn ignited the gas.

It surged through the car's systems.

Shadow beasts swarmed around the paralyzed car, intent on attacking the children and Ganon.

The car exploded, taking all of the shadow beasts with it.

Ganon was sent flying into the brush. He flipped around and caught himself feet first on a tree trunk. The force of the explosion was enough to keep him pinned to the tree for a long time.

The children in the foliage braced themselves for the shockwave. Spring didn't have the strength to hold off the shockwave, so she was flung back into a tree. Adrenaline left her, and she fell into unconsciousness.

The shrapnel flew in all directions, but surprisingly nobody was hurt.

And once the shockwave stopped, Ganon joined Spring on the ground in unconsciousness.


	5. Forest of Sorrow

( Forest of Sorrow )( Forest of Sorrow ) CHAPTER THREE

(Link)

The poorly-dressed city slicker trudged through the soggy forest, dripping wet and tired. It was nearing twilight and the trip had been long and hard. For the first leg of the trip lots of monsters had assailed him from all sides and he could barely fend them off with what weaponry he could scrounge up from the forest floor, and what little energy the food he ate gave him had dissipated at the Portal of Oblivion.

"Din's fire…" he cursed. "Why haven't the goddesses just killed me yet?"

He stumbled over the branches in front of him and fell over onto the earth. He lay there for a few seconds, unmoving, unthinking.

He sighed. "Nothing surprises me anymore… nothing hurts…"

He gathered himself up and lifelessly trudged through the muck of the forest foliage once more.

(Zelda)

"He moves so slowly…" Zelda commented, sighing. "It's like he's got nothing to live for."

The ninja-princess had been observing the green-clad kid since she had spotted him by the Portal. She noticed he wasn't really interested in anything else but what lay on the ground in front of him, as she had hidden in plain sight, but he had simply passed her by without acknowledging her presence. She had defended the boy the last few hours from monster attacks because it appeared as if he had no energy left to fight or do anything much besides struggle to take the next step.

She continued observing him, keeping an eye on the poor individual as they neared the clearing with Spring's village in it, trading glances at him with glances ahead towards the village and circulatory observations around them as protection…

…but nothing would prepare them for what they saw at the village.

Link was the first to notice the carnage. Bloodied bodies and parts of monsters littered the earth from one end of the clearing to the other. Some of the bodies were of forest children, but most were of monsters. A few charred, glistening metal pieces were also scattered all over the field.

"Nayru's love… I hope Spring's okay!" he spoke, worried over the fate of his beloved friend.

Zelda dropped from the trees. "You and me both."

Link stepped back, shocked. "Who are you?"

The princess removed her hood, releasing her golden locks from their black prison and unveiling her thin, pixie-like face. She addressed the boy. "I am Princess Zelda, daughter of the King of Thrycia and heir to the Hyrulian throne."

Two children walked up to the conversing pair. They shook from extreme fear and shock, evident in their eyes, nervous demeanour, and slight slouch. One was tall and wiry, with long arms, short legs, and scraggly blonde hair, matted with blood in a couple places. Her face was pasted with dirt here and there. Two long scars ran across one cheek from where she had been hit by the claws of an unknown creature. The other child was perfect in proportion, except he walked with a slight limp. His straight black hair was visibly ruffled, but not scraggly. His shirt was torn in three pieces. The middle hung by a few loose threads around his waist, while the bottom part of his shirt was wrapped around a decent-sized gash that he had sustained while running from the army that had attacked him. It was already well-soaked through with blood, though the bleeding itself had stopped a short time ago. His shorts were virtually nonexistent, as one leg was ripped off entirely and the other leg was drooped a ways down his thigh to give the illusion that it covered more than it did.

"L-Link… Zeld-d-da…" the shorter of the pair spoke in short gasps. "It was h-h-horrible…"

Zelda looked the little one over. "Oh, Tuli…" She took the little one in her arms, whereupon he promptly broke into tears. "It'll be okay," she spoke repeatedly into his ear, reassuring the young, barefoot child.

Link looked around. The village that had been the only home he had ever known since the death of his parents was now torn to shreds. He collapsed to his knees, cursing and swearing as he did. The taller child kneeled down to his level.

"Link, it's okay," she spoke. "We can rebuild."

Without looking at her, Link snapped her arm up into a vice-grip-like hold. "Where's Spring? Tell me she's okay, Gardenia!"

A little taken aback by the sudden, harsh attack on her upper arms, the taller girl gasped, then swallowed and nodded. "She's in the third tree on the right. Everyone's working to take care of her and this man in black who helped us."

Link hobbled towards the house. Gardenia noticed his heavy steps.

"Have you eaten recently, Link?" she said, concerned.

Link shrugged. "What's food to a dying teen?"

Gardenia choked on a bit of saliva, stunned at what she heard. She ran after the blue-bagged boy slowly plodding his way to Spring's tree home.

Zelda finally calmed the boy down long enough to hear Gardenia's sprinting-away from her. She watched the blue tarp and the green-clad forest kid disappear into one of the houses nearby. She took the hand of the young child she had just consoled, swallowed to calm her nerves, and walked towards the house that held her best friend of many years.

When they arrived at the house, Link was standing at Spring's bedside simply staring into her unconscious face, stone-faced and unemotional. She looked at the three girls who were crowded around Spring's bed, and then over to the other bed. She felt uncomfortable as she scanned the hulking, black figure lying unconscious on the bed, and for some reason she had this urge to kill him, to take the knives she held and drive them deep within the man's bosom. Something wasn't right about him. She exposed one of her blades to the daylight, catching a flash of evening sun as she did, but in the end she decided against it and re-sheathed the glistening steel weapon. Something inside her seemed to still her hand, even though she felt a furious anger well up inside her simply by looking at him as if there had been ages of conflict with him before now.

Yet… she had never met the man in her life.

She shook her head, returning her gaze to their fair-faced friend.

Link sighed. "Now that I'm calm, I'm hungry."

Gardenia, who was standing nearby, replied, "What would you like?"

"A bunch of those black cherries you can get around here," Link relied, stretching and yawning. "Also, do you have a bed I can sleep in?"

"I will take you to Olive's house, Link," she said. I know how much you like one another."

"Olive's still around?" Link said, following Gardenia out. "I thought he would have left for Goron Gulch by now! That son of a Stalchild…"

Their voices faded out of earshot. Zelda focussed on her friend's face, lost in the unconsciousness that now pervaded her friend's face. She smiled slightly when Link began to get excited about seeing this kid Olive. It was the first time he had shown any sort of signs of life since they had met.

"Miss Zelda?"

Startled, she looked over at the small boy beside her, remembering that she had not yet let go of his hand. She smiled at him.

"I'm getting sleepy. Let's go to my place."

Zelda nodded. "Yes. How's your sister doing?"

Tuli's head dropped and he dropped her hand. "Normal… if dead is normal."

He pointed over towards the back of the town to a girl impaled on a tree branch. Zelda gasped.

"Violet!" she shrieked.

She ran over to the girl. She checked her up, over, around, and through… but it was useless. The girl had been dead for a good while. Zelda removed her lifeless body from the spike. She watched the kids who couldn't deal with the shock of death cuddling their dead friends, trying with all their power to coax them awake. Some, she noticed, hadn't slept nor eaten in a couple days. She recognized a few faces amongst the dead. There were a couple of unidentifiable bodies as well.

She looked around. Nobody was making any sort of effort to clean up the mess. She laid Violet down on the ground.

"Tuli…" she mumbled.

The little boy looked up at her. Tears had been shed recently, as moistened lines trailed down the boy's cheeks.

Zelda sighed. "Let's gather up the bodies and put them in the clearing outside of town. Gather everyone together."

Tuli nodded. He ran off to begin the collection.

For the next two days Ganon did not regain consciousness, but Spring did a day or so later, and she joined in the bonfire memorial where they burned the thirty-three monsters and fourteen dead kids.

And all this time her dad didn't even notice she was gone.


End file.
